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NYC Metro: Express vs Local Services

I will be staying on the UWS during my forthcoming trip to New York and I have read a lot of trip reports to help with my planning. I am hoping to use the Metro (rather than taxis) for the majority of my transport around Manhattan but I have a few (hopefully) simple questions.

How do I know which trains are Express and which are Local? Is it written on the front of the drivers car or do I need to listen out for the announcement? (something which I like many people find hard to make out!)

Also, how do I know which stops are Local only and which ones are serviced by the Express trains? Is there any way of knowing by simply looking at the maps? i.e Express stops are in italics or something? I'll mostly be using the 1 but it would be good to know in general how to figure such things out!

Finally, I've always wondered why some lines have numbers and other letters? Is there a reason for this?

The 1 is a local, the 2 and 3 are express.
Subway lines are designated as express or local, so for the most part once you know if a line (like the number 2 train) is express, it is always called the express (so there's not a 2 local versus a 2 express. The side of each car says the train name/letter/number and the final stop. Sometimes they will say local or express but that can be confusing because some trains that are local in Manhattan (probably where you will be most of the time) might be express in another borough. Also calling something express or local is sort of relative--the 2 & 3 are express, skipping stips where it overlaps with the 1 train, but they make all stops on their line in places where the 1 doesn't run.

Sometimes local trains will make express stops only or express trains will run local, usually because of a problem at a station or to even out the system when things have been running slowly. The conductor almost always announces these changes Weekends also have many changes an the info is posted online and in the stations.

Numbers and letters are because the NYC subway system was originally 3 systems before they were merged. Also the names of trains were standardized a while ago so that all are single digits or letters (we used to have QB or Queens-bound trains, and LL, etc)

On official subway maps, you can see the route a train takes and at which stations they stop. You'll note that many lines run on the same route for a portion of the trip and you'll see by the map which trains stop or skip stations.

Moral of the story, read the info but also ask New Yorkers for help. We know our usual subway lines in great detail!

There's a subway map in every station that tells you which are local and which are express stops. You can also find this information on the MTA web site.

Although some NYC subway trains do begin and end at different, distant outer-borough stations, if you are traveling wholly within Manhattan, then you only need to know if your line stops at local or express stops. It's generally one or the other (except on weekends, when everything can be messed up). In most stations, the local and express trains are on opposite sites of the same platform, but on some lines (the 4/5/6 for instance), some stations have separate local and express platforms. It's this way at Penn Station as well for the 1 and 2/3 trains.

I can't list them here, but big, important stations are generally express stops. Smaller stations are usually local stops. On the Upper West Side, the 1 and C trains are always local, the 2/3 and B are always express, and the D train is express everywhere but on the Upper West Side. West Side Express stops are Times Square, Columbus Circle (for some lines), 72nd, 96th, and 125th Streets. Local stops are everything else, including Columbus Circle for some lines.

For the most part, you'll probably be taking the 1 Train, which runs along Broadway. If your hotel is near 72nd or 96th Streets, then you can also take the 2/3 trains.

New York City subways were once run by independent corporations, but basically the system uses a series of numbers and letters (which are also tied, in groups by their original owners for the most part, with colors). So the 1/2/3 trains are all red; the N/R/Q trains are all yellow; the B/D/F trains are orange; the A/C/E trains are blue; the 4/5/6 are green. The lines are numbered and lettered so that the designations aren't reused, but I don't know the actual history of these, though there is a transit museum, where you can probably buy the book 722 Miles which is a good history of the system.

I had trouble distinguishing Express from Local on a recent visit to NYC where I stayed in Brooklyn and used the subway far more frequently than on previous trips staying in Manhattan.

I most appreciated the subway cars which had electronic maps indicating stops. Most did not. Otherwise it was often difficult to hear the conductor's announcements about forthcoming stops and transfers.

I will say that in over a week we had very few missteps on our journeys but did learn to build in extra time for navigating subway and buses. New Yorkers were unfailingly helpful, like nyer above, who gave me major league good advice about Brooklyn. We did our best to consult maps, check our apps, and read the station bulletins for changes but still managed to muck it up on occasion.

Hopstop was was a very useful app.

It's called the metro in Washington DC and no one flips out if you refer to it as the subway. Or the tube for matter.

Although NY'ers call it either the subway or the train, about fifteen years ago, the group that runs the subways, starting issuing Metrocards for entry and transfers to the subways and buses. Of course, NY'ers resisted changing the name after 100 years but this has created ambguity in the minds of visitors.

Thanks Paradeofminkees, I was sure that I had seen the word Metro used somewhere. Of course now that its been pointed out I do recall that it is most commonly referred to as 'the subway' and I'll be calling it that in future.

Obxgirl, I have just had a look at Hopstop. How useful is that? I'll download the app now

Miguel, my friend and I found it extremely useful for navigating trains and buses, their arrival and departure times, as well as locating subway stations & bus stops. I asked here about apps and it was recommended:

Obxgirl, I'll also check out NextStop. That might work better for me. I'm pretty much a walking kind of guy everywhere else I go because I think you see more, however NYC (or at the very least Manhattan) is just too big for that when you are staying in the UWS, hence my desire to get a handle on the subway system.

I have heard / read rave reviews of the bus network in Manhattan in particular but I think I'd be happier using the subway for the north / south* aspect and then walking the long blocks between avenues.

* Btw: Having looked at maps of Manhattan, I've noticed that subway maps and guide books show Manhattan on an adjusted axis. It seems like the avenues run true N/S (which makes total sense for saving space on the page) And of course for journeys within the area, the orientation is largely irrelevant, (for a great example see the London Underground map, a small piece of perfection of odd cartography, indeed one which omits details like direction and distance, yet remains unsurpassed in its usefulness) however actually on a wider scale map of America, Manhattan actually is on a tilt of nearly 30 Degrees.

** A friend also told me that there is only one street in Manhattan which runs truly East to West and its Stuyvesant Street. Not sure if this is true but I'd be interested to know if there is any truth to this. It certainly looks like Stuyvesant is E/W true. I haven't had the time or inclination to check for other streets which might also be true E/W. I once tried to work it out by looking on a map but I was quickly distracted by the REAL attractions of the city!

PS. I think I might have Hi-jacked my own thread! Is this a first? Lol!

The avenues do NOT run true north/south, but close enough to north/south for people to refer to them that way. The streets are perpendicular to the avenues, but do not run true east/west, except for Stuyvesant street as you mentioned. Peter Stuyvesant owned the land where Stuyvesant street is located. He wanted the street grid to follow true compass points and created the roads on his acreage to his preferred grid. The city government chose instead to plot the grid more in relation to the actual shape Manhattan Island. Stuyvesant Street exists as just one short block, a remnant of Stuyvesant's plan.

"I think I'd be happier using the subway for the north / south* aspect and then walking the long blocks between avenues."
A good strategy in general, but don't forget that you can make one free transfer aubway to bus or bus to subway within 2 hours on a single paid fare (subway to subway too, as many as you need as long as you don't exit the system) Of course if you buy an unlimited MetroCard (for 7 or 30 days), you can make as many transfers as you want. And those avenue blocks can be 2 or three times as long as "streets" so factor that in.

That's not accurate. The 1/2/3 express stops are at Times Sq, 72nd and 96th. The 2/3 diverge from the 1 at 96th. The 2 and 3 SKIP Columbus Circle - it's a local stop only on that line.

The A/B/C/D amalgamation has an express station at 59th/Columbus Circle and at 125th and the stations in between are local stations only.

<<On the Upper West Side, the 1 and C trains are always local, the 2/3 and B are always express, and the D train is express everywhere but on the Upper West Side>>

No no no. The D is always express - says so on the MTA map itself. The B is express in midtown (from W 4th to 34th) and Brooklyn and local on the upper west side.

Want to know what trains stop at which stations? Look at the map. It lists each train that stops at a given station during normal hours (not late nights). Where there are express and local trains, the express stops are marked by white circles, and the local stops by black circles. And when you're at an express station, the express stops in the middle tracks and the local stops on the outer tracks (this is not true for the 4/5/6 at 59th or 86th - express and local trains are on different levels and use different tunnels).

Hmmm. So the Subway as a topic clearly invites a lot of responses. I'm grateful for all the helpful replies.

BigRuss, thank you for adding your two pence worth. Or should I say cents worth. I'll be looking at the maps and trying my best to minimise the subway 'missteps'.

And thanks to everyone else who has helped me out here.

vjpblovesitaly, thank you for pointing out my error. It would have been nice if you'd returned with something informative. Particularly as I had clearly started a thread which was so close to your heart.

No matter, I'm still really excited about my trip to New York. I've learned a lot on this thread and on the others where I've just been lurking. Thank you again.

Another valuable smartphone app for use with the NYC subway system is NYCMate. To my knowledge, it's the only app that offers maps of each station that tell you where the stairs to the street are. Also, once it downloads a particular geographical area while online, it retains that information, so it's useful even in the subway, where there's generally no Internet signal available.

I have to disagree with BigRuss on the D always being an express. Just because it says so on the subway map does not mean it is always that way.

While under normal circumstances the D is express along Central Park West, there are times when the D has to operate as a local (such as a train breakdown on the express track between 59th St & 125th St, or construction/repair work on the express tracks).

The D is local in the Bronx (express during rush hours in the peak direction. It is express in Brooklyn only on 4th Av, it becomes a local after it leaves 36th St (Brooklyn) all the way down to Coney Island.

This all very interesting and helpful. When I stayed in UWS I always caught my train at the W72 stop. I could never work out which train was express and what stops the express stopped at so I always caught a local. However they always seemed to get quickly to where I wanted.

has anyone pointed out that with all the construction on the subway lines, many stations are festooned with posters for special service instructions and it can take a phD in transit, if such exists, to figure them out? Also, it's simply not true that you can't incorporate an east/west turn into a north/south run, depending on the train and where you want to go.
my advice, do get on of the apps (which won't work underground) and then try to figure out what you're doing on a route specific basis. Ask for help, we don't bite.

At an express station the local train is the train on the track closest to the side wall. The express train is the one on the inner track.

At one time on some of the lettered line it was easy to tell a local from an express. The express had a single letter (A) while the local had double letters (AA). The MTA did away with that back in the late 1970's.

When looking at a subway map (the official one) - express stations are indicated by a white circle. Local stations are indicated by a black circle. Also under the station name the trains that stop there are shown. If the letter or number is in bold black then it stops there almost all the time. If the letter or number is in plain black type then the train stops there during late night hour or only during mid-day hours.

The reason I mentioned the official subway map is because the ones issued by travel companies tend not to differentiate between local and express.

Also look at the signs above the platform (next to the stairwell). Those signs will indicate if the route is local or express.

<<I have to disagree with BigRuss on the D always being an express. Just because it says so on the subway map does not mean it is always that way.>>

This is nitpicking rubbish. The D is an express, period. I stated what the service is based upon what the MTA says it is and Doug was incorrect on each point I analyzed.

The OP should view the map and rely on the map and expect the services to act in accordance with their descriptions because contingency plans will be stated on the train or listed at the station, if necessary.

Contingencies, emergencies, and unexpected shifts in train scheduling are irrelevant to the normal analysis. In the subway, there are tons of places for trains to be re-routed (A on F tracks from W 4th to Jay St; F on express tracks between Av X or so and Bergen St; any express on any local's track at any place where they are together) but telling the OP it MAY happen at some possible point in time can only confuse issues.

Rely on the map and the service descriptions on the MTA website and understand that changes occur.

Transit things I learned on my recent trip to New York:
Be sure to ask the driver where to catch the return bus before you get off the initial bus.
New Yorkers are often very helpful, in their brisk way, when you get off the train and look confused about where to go next.
Once closed, the train doors cannot be re-opened, even if the train hasn't moved.
Have a great time!

You might want to consider looking up one of the threads with the rules of riding the subways. (Do NOT stare at other passengers. Don;t try to hold the door open with a limb or object. - there are a couple of threads)

To note: in Manhattan train and bus schedules have nothing to do with reality. Times are not even meant to be adhered to. All that listing will tell you is if the train will come every 3 minutes (as in rush hour when they run as close together as physically possible) or 5/6 minutes (middle of the day) or 15 minutes (middle of the night). In rush hours buses tend to come in herds, since the first to arrive gets the most passengers and takes longest to board - so those following tend to catch up to it. And you will get 3 or 4 following one another - then a 10 minute gap.

Schedules only matter in the outer boroughs where they run much less often ( the bus may only be every 30 minutes of so)